what would be more beneficial? ARB front or rear?

so here is my delema. i have a lock rightin my rear dana 44. i really dont like it. i really hate the tire chirp going around corners. so i was thinking about getting an arb locker to replace it. then a buddy of mine said, why do you just deal with your lock right and put the arb in the front. i guess what i am wondering is, will it really worth the annoyance in the rear to have more traction in front? may be a dumb question but i am really stoved up on this one.

rcliftedXJ said:

so here is my delema. i have a lock rightin my rear dana 44. i really dont like it. i really hate the tire chirp going around corners. so i was thinking about getting an arb locker to replace it. then a buddy of mine said, why do you just deal with your lock right and put the arb in the front. i guess what i am wondering is, will it really worth the annoyance in the rear to have more traction in front? may be a dumb question but i am really stoved up on this one.

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What the point in getting rid of a perfectly good locker in favor of a more expensive locker when you could lock the front and have both?

the being locked all the time in the rear getts really irretating. like i said i know its a dumb question, not sure why i asked it. guess was just looking for some opinions.

rcliftedXJ said:

the being locked all the time in the rear getts really irretating. like i said i know its a dumb question, not sure why i asked it. guess was just looking for some opinions.

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I could see it being irritating but you gotta take the bad with the good.

completely understand. the other thing that i was thinking about and reason for the question was that i drive my jeep alot on the road and just baught new tires a three weeks ago. whould kind of like to keep these tires for a bit. yah know what i mean. but i do know that being locked in the front would definately make the jeep a better rig

rcliftedXJ said:

completely understand. the other thing that i was thinking about and reason for the question was that i drive my jeep alot on the road and just baught new tires a three weeks ago. whould kind of like to keep these tires for a bit. yah know what i mean. but i do know that being locked in the front would definately make the jeep a better rig

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You can do what you want but you should have known going in that the Lock-right was gonna do that. They do wear tires out faster but its a trade-off for what you want to do. If you do 95% street driving like I do a lunchbox shouldn't be the first choice in the rear. I am going to be doing a 4.10 D30/8.8 swap on mine in the future and will be rebuilding the LS to make it stronger. I am figuring there is some sort of ford racing LSD kit that would work for it. Then I will do a lunchbox up front.

yah some of the newer ford 8.8's come with lsd's. shouldnt be hard to find one

unless im really into it around a tight/semi-tight corner, my lockers wont really chirp the 35's on the street. if im driving normal, i dont even notice it. How are the torelences on the side gears? maybe its too tight and causing the locker to say locked up too much and causing all the chirping.

i was thinking something might be wrong with it but it was installed by a guy that i KNOW knows what he is doing. so not sure what the deal is. thats why the arb is going in. i know next spring another one is going in where ever this one doesntso maybe i will just deal with the chirping

rcliftedXJ said:

i was thinking something might be wrong with it but it was installed by a guy that i KNOW knows what he is doing. so not sure what the deal is. thats why the arb is going in. i know next spring another one is going in where ever this one doesntso maybe i will just deal with the chirping

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There is a simple fix to the chirping problem.

COAST when cornering. Just back off of the skinny pedal and it won't engage.

EDIT: double check your tire pressure, and are the rear tires matched--as in did you measure their diameter? Unequal tire size/pressure will make it engage at odd times.

rcliftedXJ said:

so here is my delema. i have a lock rightin my rear dana 44. i really dont like it. i really hate the tire chirp going around corners. so i was thinking about getting an arb locker to replace it. then a buddy of mine said, why do you just deal with your lock right and put the arb in the front. i guess what i am wondering is, will it really worth the annoyance in the rear to have more traction in front? may be a dumb question but i am really stoved up on this one.

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Which transfer case do you have?

front!!!!! oh my gosh how amazing it would be to disconnect and lock the front end

Having a Detroit in the rear and a Aussie in the front myself, I would defiantly put the ARB up front and leave the rear locked. Its very annoying on the trail in 4wd when you need to make tight turns. It goes where it wants to go. Being able to lock and unlock the front is the only way to go. When funds permit, I will be taking out my Aussie on favor of a selectable locker. Also, if you option is to upgrade the rear and leave the front open vs. locked front and rear it should be a no brainer... Once your locked front and rear youll never look back!

sell the rear lock right and get one for the front, and throw an ARB in the rear. thats my setup and in my DD.

but my front D60 has locking hubs, so im not 100% how an auto locker will do without them, but my guess is in 2wd it would be hardly noticable.

if you just want to run one locker throw it in the rear becasue thats where most of the weight is shifed on inclines and where most of the engine tourque is transfered to.

austinaubinoe said:

but my front D60 has locking hubs, so im not 100% how an auto locker will do without them, but my guess is in 2wd it would be hardly noticable.

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Oh, mine is noticeable... Every time I make a tight turn in a parking lot it makes one heck of a racket... You get some strange looks from people when they hear it. Sounds like the whole front ends about to fall out. You're not turning the locker with locking hubs so its a whole different ball game. With a stock D30 its rotating all the time.

I have ARB's front and rear. It's a daily driver and I can tell you it's the bees knees. If you can afford it, selectable rocks for DD. But not everyone can afford it, so if you're on a budget I'd say ARB the front and call it good. You sure won't regret it on the trail.

Brad M. said:

I have ARB's front and rear. It's a daily driver and I can tell you it's the bees knees. If you can afford it, selectable rocks for DD. But not everyone can afford it, so if you're on a budget I'd say ARB the front and call it good. You sure won't regret it on the trail.

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x2

I ran a spool in the rear of the '91, that's what tire chirping sounds like.

If you have a lunchbox locker in the rear and it's acting like a spool, you should take a look at it and figure out what's wrong with it. There's plenty of traction on the street to disengage it in a turn.

I know lots of guys that KNOW what they're doing and make mistakes.

I have a no-slip in my C8.25 and hopefully will soon have an ARB in the front D30. This is the best setup I can think of for a DD. I drive 80+ miles a day and my rear tires are actually wearing much slower than the fronts. Definitely keep that lunchbox in the rear. I think a selectable up front is the only way to go for street driving, unless you have locking hubs.

I am no fan of the lockrite so I vote replace the rear with the ARB.

An automatic locker in the rear, or front for that matter, does not increase tire wear. This isn't just an internet opinion, it's a fact. The potentially annoying qualities of an automatic locker in the rear come from how it differentiates, not because it locks up. When going around a corner the locker differentiates by the outside tire freewheeling and running ahead of the inside tire, so no tire scuffing, but you can feel some pushing now and then since only the inside tire is being driven. When you go around a sharper corner, typically when starting from a stop and accelerating, the inside tire can chirp because it's the one getting all the power. It doesn't help that when cornering the weight transfers to the outside so that inside tire also has less weight on it making it easier to spin and chirp. You'll notice that if you're a little easier on the throttle when accelerating slightly around a corner there won't be any chirping. Also, the chirp, chirp, chirp is because the inside tire can spin a little until it catches up with the free spinning outside tire, then the outside tire spins ahead again, and the inside tire chirps again until it catches up again. If you actually gave the vehicle enough throttle to lock the locker then there wouldn't be a chirp, there would be squealing from both tires spinning.

So, ease the throttle a little around corners to minimize the chirping, and don't worry about tire wear because the locker is not locking up.


Regarding turning sharper on the trail, it definitely helps to have one end unlocked. However, you'll turn sharper with the rear open and the front locked than you will with the front open and the rear locked. Conventional wisdom on this subject has recently been proven wrong, and more and more people are putting the selectable locker in the rear rather than in the front and getting better street manner and tighter turning on the trail. When the front is locked it just pulls around the corner, but when the rear is locked it tries to push the vehicle straight. Of course, when both are locked the scuffing makes it harder to turn. But, front locked/rear open definitely works better and turns sharper than front open/rear locked.

If you haven't done it both ways, then you just don't know how much better it is.